Konstantinos Tsakiris, Chairman

Born in Athens in 1971, he is the 2nd generation in Shipping after his father John who passed away in 2003. Divorced with 3 daughters, speaks 6 languages. Studied Aeronautical Engineer from Imperial College London in 1990-1994 . Spent some time in between as a cadet officer of the Merchant Navy on board his father’s company vessels and then also did an internship at Pankar Maritime, Athens, under the supervision of Mr. Tony Petrochylos. Served in the 2nd Para Regiment as Lieutenant and after finishing in 1996 he took over his fathers company Shipping & Produce which had just been liquidated. Effectively starting with only a shell company in Piraeus Navipower Compania Naviera (serving only as a branch office, the main office Shipping & Produce being in London), he gradualy started building up a new team and renamed the company Paradise Navigation SA. After obtaining all newly-required then certifications they proceeded with the first ship acquisition in 1997. He has relinquished the Managing Director position to Vakis Koutsoukos in 2008 but remains till today mainly responsible for all the strategic decisions and business development for the Paradise Group.

Paraskevas Koutsoukos, Managing Director & Technical Manager

Born Alexandria, 1958, speaking four languages, Vakis is very close to the Tsakiris family. His father, George Koutsoukos, was always a minor partner within the Tsakiris family interests over more than 35 years. Vakis graduated in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at Athens University in 1982 then studied a post-graduate course in Port & Shipping Administration at the University of Wales. In Between he spent a year with the Piraeus part of Shipping & Produce, Marmaestra Comp. Naviera., assisting the Superintendent Engineers attending dry-dockings, repairs, layups, reactivations and surveys. Also spent some time aboard the m.v Niobe as apprentice. In 1985 he trained at Nafsi Shiprepairers, Piraeus and then at Napier Turbochargers in Lincoln, U.K. In 1985 he joined the company in London as Superintendent Engineer looking after 10 bulkers. From 1988 to 1990 he was Superintendent Engineer with Bilinder Marine (Latsis) attending every kind of vessel from ULCC’s to luxury yachts. He experienced repairs, conversions, and all the office liaison matters arising from such a fleet. From 1990 to 1997 he was Superintendent Engineer with Hellespont and was also Technical Superintendent to their Scottish oil development company involved in floating storage units, dealing with shipyard bids, liaison with clients, engineering consultants etc. In 1997 he left Hellespont, to return back to Bilinder where he was in charge of the multi-million dollar project of the conversion of the “Alexander”. After successful completion of this project, he joined Paradise (ex Navipower) in October 1998. Vakis was the Project Manager on site during the complete construction of the four panamax tankers built by PNSA in Shangai/China from July 2003 until June 2005.

Captain Thomas Tsanakas, Operations Manager

Captain Tsanakas joined Paradise in 1996, serving as Safety Manager until February 2000. He is certified in a variety of shipping fields, including oil tanker safety, crude oil washing, automatic radar plotting, advanced fire fighting, IMO/ISO training, and Internal Auditor (DNV). Captain Tsanakas is also certified by the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association. He received his Captain A Class Diploma in 1990, and spent 16 years in various crew roles with Hellespont Steamship Co. and Remi Maritime. Captain Tsanakas attended the Hellenic Merchant Marine Academy. Captain Tsanakas speaks English and Greek.

Konstantinos Sakkas, Safety Manager

Born in Athens 1962, Speaks Greek, English & French. Konstantinos, is a naval architect graduate from the Athens University and an Msc holder in Ocean Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in USA. From 1989-1991 he was Assistant Sup. Engineer for the Tsavliris group, operators of Bulk Carriers and Ocean Salvage vessels. From 1991-1996 while in the USA for his Msc degree worked as independent surveyor for Lloyd’s of London Underwriters, as well as for M. Rosenblat and Sons of NY, as a design engineer working on DH/DB tankers . From 1997-2004 he has been the Manager of Cyprus Bureau of Shipping – Piraeus Office, as well as an ISM Lead Auditor with over 300 ship and company audits carried out, and National Flag Inspector of Cyprus flagged ships for the Cyprus Administration with over 200 ship inspections. He was also the key lecturer on Port State Control implementation, in courses and seminars designed by the Cyprus Administration for officers wishing to obtain an STCW 95 License.

Efthimis Paraskevopoulos, Superintendent Engineer

Born Athens, 1975 fluent Greek and English. Efthimis graduated in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at Athens Technological Institute. In 1999 he finished his military service in the Greek Army and joined a technical/consultant company (Effepi Ltd) dealing successfully with all kind of studies/reports concerning Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and attending several vessels under repairs, surveys etc. In 2002 he joined an established trading company as the technical supervisor on cathodic protection department and in May 2003 he joint Paradise Navigation as a Superintendent Engineer. He was the Hull/Outfitting Supervisor during the complete construction of the four Panamax tankers built by PNSA by staying at Shanghai/China for two years. He is certified as an NDT level II operator with significant experience on Hull/Structural Surveys and Repairs.

Simos Camhis, Chief Financial Officer

Born in Athens, 1971, speaks Greek, English & French. Simos graduated in International Economics & Management at the American University of Paris, holding also an MBA degree from SDA Bocconi. In 2007 he joined Paradise Navigation SA as Chief Financial Officer. During the last 8 years he was the Corporate Finance Director of C. Rokas SA, listed in AtheX and member of Iberdrola Group, acting also as its Investor Relations Officer (IRO). Also worked in the European Commission (DG XVI) and the Greek consulting firms PLANET and KANTOR, having participated in a number of development projects in emerging markets within the context of international programms, such as Tacis, Thermie and EBRD. Finally, worked as an External Financial Consultant of the WORLD BANK participating in a rehabilitation project in Ukraine.